Identification tag with clinch lock



July 20, 1937. A. A. PANNIER 2,087,294

IDENTIFICATION TAG WITH CLINCH LOCK I Filed 001;. 22, 1935 INVENTOR .4. A. Kain/Mae,

ATTORNEY Patented July 20, 1937 2, is7,294 InENTrFIoKTIoN-raG WITH CLliNCH LOCK.

Arthur e ks lt Lake 6W Application October 22, rasaserin No. 46,058 I 5 Claims. (01. 40-s i 1' This invention relates to an identification tag provided with a clinch lock, and belongs in general to the type largely used'in identifying livestock although it may be used for many other *5 purposes.

are therefore commonly known as ear tags.

Identification tags of the present type consist in general, of two branches connected to each in, other and disposed in mutual opposition. One of the branches has a tongue extending transy s y thereof, and this tongue has a sharp point which pierces theobject to which tl.'ie tagtr s=-attachcd. )Afte'r piercing 'the object, th 1151M Continues 15 through an opening in th branch o the tag, and is bent around fl ed' 0 the out:

side of the other brand? Such a clinch as ordinarily formed, fifi gives way when stressed,

gbarb, due to contact with a properly shaped portion of a plier jaw, is caused to slip automatically into place against some portion of the opposite branch, usually the outside surface thereof, during the process of clinching the tongue.

30 The barb or abutment prevents opening, unless the tag structure is distorted.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 represents the plan of a tag in the flat form, before it is bent around into shape ready 35 for attaching;

Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof, partly in section taken on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a side elevation, partly in section, showing a shaped tag as it is held in the jaws of a 40 pair of special ear-tag pliers just previous to attaching the tag;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, drawn to an enlarged scale, and showing the tag closed, with pointclinched and locked.

45 Referring to the drawing, the numeral I0 in Figs. 1 and 2, indicates a tag in the strip or fiat form, before it is bent into shape for attaching. At one end, the tag is provided with a tongue l2 having the point M with the tip l5 and the barb 50 or abutment portion It. At the other end of the tag strip is an opening I1, and spaced slightly apart therefrom, is another smaller opening or indenture l8, these openings being similar in certain respects to those provided in tags of prior 5 construction.

When used for identifying animals,- tags of this type are attached to the ears and 5 In this form,the tag is inserted in a pair of spe- Before attaching the tag, it is bent into the general form having the branches M -I and [9-2, Big. 3, which are connected to each other by a bent portion at the rear of the leg. The tongue 12 extends transversely and/inwardly from one of the branches, in this instance, branch Ill-2.

cial pliers having the jaws IQ and 20, ready for applying/it in substantially the customary ner. When the jaws of the pliers are closed together, the point It passes "through the opening nctis bent around inthe curved recessZl of the P 81" jamfifi, leaving the point clinched as indicated at i il in Fig. 4. The mere clinching of the point, in general, is also in accordance with well known practice, a difference in the present invention being, that the barb is slips automaticallyinto an angular niche 24, formed partly by the forward portion of the recess 2| and partlyby the upper fiat surface of the tag branch ill-l, leaving the clinched point locked with its barb or abutment portion l6 projecting over a lip 25, the latter constituting in this instance, an upper edge of the opening l1.

When the tongue is thus clinched, the barb protrudes from the base of the point l4 and is directed towards the front of the branch lU-I, while the abutment face of the barb has a secure hold on the keeper-face, the latter preferably coinciding with the outer surface of the branch Iii-l. Any stress tending to separate the two branches Ill-l and l6-2, as indicated by the double-pointed arrow in Fig. 4, results in distorting the tag structure rather than in merely unfastening the clinch.

It is desirable that the point or tip of the clinched tongue be braced and sheathed, and this is accomplished by causing the point or tip of the closed or clinched tag to be disposed in the opening or indenture I8, Fig. 4. Sheathing of a point tip is common, but in this instance embraces a new feature which consists in bracing the tip against the rear face of the opening l8 so as to prevent inadvertent backward movement of the barb I6.

It should be clear that I do not claim broadly an identification tag consisting merely of two opposing members connected to each other at one endand held together at the other end by means of a tongue having a clinchable point, but only when the tongue of such a tag is provided' with an abutment lock which is so constructed that pressure exerted on the fore part of the tongue causes the said lock to be pushed backward into engagement with the superficial i throu hzth surface of the opposing branch, as clearly indicated in Fig. 4, where the sheathed tip holds the lock in such engagement.

I-Iaving fully described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An identification tag, including in combination, two connected branches capable of being closed together, a tongue extending inwardly from one of the branches, a clinchable point at the end of said tongue, said clinchable point having a tip at the forward end and an abutment at the rearward end; and a perforated portion at the free extremity of the other branch, the said clinchable point being adapted topass erforated portion for clinching and sheathing means lsp -preximity to the perforated portion so as to receive and sheath I the tipof the tongue when clinched, the closed form of the tag being such, that the said abutment is substantially in coincidence with and? overlapping, the outer surface of the said other branch, while the sheathed tip is effectiveto normally prevent the abutment from being moved relative to its-overlapping position.

2. A clinched identification tag, including in combination, two connected branches disposed in utua voppo'sitioh to-each other, a tongue pro- ;inwardly from one of the branches and nched' on the outer side of the other branch.

the'saijd other-branch having an apertureto receive the tongue, a point'integral with-the-said tongue, a tip at the forward end of the poinuan abutment at the rear of the sa'id'pointrahd sheathingifneans on the other branch refine purpose of' sheathing the said tipjthesaid abutment being in locked engagement with a portion of the j'other branch in such relation that the sheathed tip normally prevents the abutment from becoming disengaged.

3. An identification tag, including in combination, a member having a perforation, a second member connected to and opposite the first mentioned member, a clinchable portion extending from the second member through the said perforation, sheathing means in the first mentioned member and in proximity to the said perforation, the forward end of said clinchable member being sheathed within the said sheathing means, and an abutment lock on the said clinchable member, said lock being normally held in engagement with the said second member by means of the sheathed forward end.

4. An identification tag comprising two branches connected to each other at the rear thereof, one branch having an aperture near the front end thereof, a keeper-face portion in proximity to the aperture, a tongue at the front end of the other branch and extending through the aperture in the said one branch, the said tongue having a point portion with a tip at the outer end thereof, a barb protruding from the base of V the point portion and directed towards the front of the other branch, the said barb having an abutment face disposed to engage the keeperface, and bracing means effective against the tip of the point for the purpose of normally holding the said abutment face in engaging relation with thesaid"keeper face. I p 1 5. An i.d eritification tag in accordance with;

claim 4, wherein th'e keeperdace'rcoincides'"subfl stantially with the-outer surface of the said one branch.

ART R A. PANNIER. 

